The claims made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he stood at the UN podium regarding what he considered Iran’s violation of the nuclear agreement with the global super powers in 2015 are part of a series of claims that began after Netanyahu became prime minister in 2009. The claims have been ongoing and growing in frequency and fierceness, especially in light of the Iranian military concentration in Syria.

Every time Netanyahu comes to the United Nations General Assembly he carries an armful of documents, pictures and statements, to incite the international public opinion against Iran and its allies in the region. This time, Hezbollah was the focus of his evidence and claims, as he claimed there were precision rockets just a few kilometres from the Rafic Hariri International Airport, specifically under a stadium in the southern suburb of Beirut.

The question that arises here is: What is Netanyahu’s goal behind such accusations and warnings? Is it to raise the fears of the Lebanese people of the possibility of a new Israeli attack on their country? Or is it to intimidate Hezbollah and stir up confusion about its weapons within the Lebanese public opinion? Or is this a return of Israel’s focus on the Lebanese arena as a battlefield with Iran by proxy? Is its aim also to highlight the negative role played by Iran in the region by interfering in the internal politics of Lebanon, Syria and Yemen?